(RSF/IFEX) – On 17 October 2002, RSF called on the Turkish authorities to drop charges against three journalists accused of “insulting the army” in articles marking the 30th anniversary of the execution of three leaders of the far-left movement Progressive Youth. The three journalists, who were indicted by a criminal court in Istanbul on 27 […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 17 October 2002, RSF called on the Turkish authorities to drop charges against three journalists accused of “insulting the army” in articles marking the 30th anniversary of the execution of three leaders of the far-left movement Progressive Youth. The three journalists, who were indicted by a criminal court in Istanbul on 27 September, are Dogan Ozgüden, editor-in-chief of the Info-Türk news agency; Emin Karaca, a freelance journalist and writer, and Mehmet Emin Sert, editor of the magazine “Türkiye’de ve Avrupa’da Yazin”.
“If these journalists are convicted of insulting the army, Turkey will have broken commitments it made to the European Union,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard noted in a letter to Justice Minister Aysel Celikel, while calling for the implementation of the announced democratic reforms that would increase press freedom. “Article 159 of the Turkish Penal Code, penalising ‘the insulting of state institutions’, must no longer be used to prosecute journalists abusively,” Ménard said.
The journalists have been charged in connection with an article by Ozgüden, entitled “30 years later”, and another by Karaca, entitled “Reminiscences of 30 years”. Both articles appeared in the April issue of “Türkiye’de ve Avrupa’da Yazin”, in which the journalists accused the army of involvement in the murders of several Progressive Youth leaders in the 1960s. An arrest warrant has been issued against Ozgüden, who has lived in exile in Belgium since the 1971 military coup. The trial is due to be held in Istanbul on 26 November.
More than 50 journalists were brought before Turkish courts in 2001, in connection with what they had written. Despite democratic reforms undertaken with a view towards joining the European Union, there has not been a significant improvement in this situation in 2002. Four journalists are currently in prison for their contribution to reports or publications deemed by the authorities to be threats to public order or state unity. Journalists who dare to tackle such taboo issues as the power of the army, the Kurdish problem or Islamic demands are constantly harassed.
